This invention relates to electrical utility load management, and particularly to methods and means for displaying the status of a load management switch associated with a customer location.
In a load management system for a utility, a central station monitors the use of electrical power and responds to peak demand periods by transmitting control commands to a switching arrangement (or switch) that temporarily removes power from one or more of several selected customer loads.
These systems use various means to test the operation, such as the status, of the switching arrangements. In one such system, the switch contains a transmitter which transmits information concerning operation of the switch in response to an interrogating signal transmitted by a hand held tester. The tester then displays or records the information. Such an arrangement requires the tester to transmit an interrogating signal and the switch and tester to perform a "handshake" operation. These may itself become sources of error.